April 2007 • Member Newsletter

The Orchid Ball

Selby Gardens’ 26th Annual Orchid Ball invitations have gone out and thanks to a long list of generous sponsors and faithful patrons, 80% of the seating capacity has been sold. To ensure you do not miss this spectacular gala, make your reservations as soon as possible.

This year’s theme Luna Toscana, evokes images of moonlit gardens tucked amid the hills of Tuscany. Cocktails, dancing, live and silent auctions and dinner catered by Michael’s on East will highlight this elegant black tie evening.

Date: Friday, April 20, 2007
Time: Cocktails at 6:30 p.m.
Location: Marie Selby Botanical Gardens900 South Palm Avenue, Sarasota
Chair: Nora Johnson
Ticket Price: $250 per person. Table sponsorships available.

For invitations or to order tickets, call (941) 366-5731 ext. 267 or email elane@selby.org.

The Plant and Garden Festival

Plant and Garden Festival - Another hit in a series of successful season events at Selby Gardens!

The weather was chilly, but the sun was as bright as the smiles on customer's faces at the 2007 Plant and Garden Festival! The Great Lawn was crowded with vendors displaying a wide selection of unusual plants and hand-crafted outdoor artwork. Children were entertained with activities while adults had a chance to shop and talk with representatives from local plant and nature societies. The mood was a festive one, with fun music playing and a great lunch menu (Banyan Burger, anyone?).

As much as we like to send people home with new plants for their collection, Selby Gardens also believes in teaching people about horticulture and nature. With this mission in mind, demonstrations were presented hourly at the Pavilion on a wide variety of gardening topics. 3,600 people turned out that weekend to celebrate "green" on St. Patrick's Day at the Plant and Garden Festival, and if you were one of them, thanks for your support of Selby Gardens. If you couldn't make it, mark your 2008 calendar for March 8th and 9th! This collector's choice plant fair is an event that you will not want to miss.

Garden Music Concert Series

Meet at the Great Lawn from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. for an enjoyable afternoon of relaxation and music. Free to Gardens’ members.

April 1

Dulce - Latin, Rumba and Flamenco Quartet

April 8

The George Carroll Quartet - Classic Variety

April 15

The Don Scaletta Trio - Jazz

April 22

Pan Magic Steele Drum Duo - Island, Calypso, & Reggae

April 29

Muse - Broadway Favorites String Trio

 

Membership Department

It has been such a treat to see so many of you at our recent Asian Festival and Plant and Garden Fest. Many thanks for bringing your friends and family, we love meeting them too. Between the two events, we are pleased to welcome 282 new families to our membership roles.

Included in the many wonderful benefits of membership are the reciprocal gardens, museums, and aquariums that you may visit for free, or at a reduced cost. The key is to always carry your Selby Membership card with you. This will ensure reduced or free entry to the more than 200 reciprocal organizations we are currently offering.

To view the available Gardens in the U.S. and Canada go to www.ahs.org.
Others include:
Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa - free admission in February and August
Florida Aquarium - free admission in October and November
Historic Bok Sanctuary - 50% off admission all year
Mote Marine Aquarium - $2.00 off adult admission and $1.00 off children's - all year

As always, please feel free to call 366-5731, ext 266 or email cmontgomery@selby.org with comments or questions.

Guided Tours

Experience a two-hour guided tour of the Gardens, just for members.*

Tours are offered on the first Tuesday of each month and begin at 10:30 a.m. Reservations are required. Please call the Welcome Center at 941.366.5731, extension 241 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to join in the fun.

*Does not include guests of members.

Bricks, Benches and Trees

Bricks, benches and trees are always a wonderful way to pay tribute to our friends and family. Call the Membership office at 366-5731, extension 229 for more information.

Volunteer Opportunities

More than 400 volunteers contributed in excess of 33,000 hours of personal time to keep Marie Selby Botanical Gardens thriving during 2006. The Gardens celebrated the hard work of its many volunteers at a festive picnic on Tuesday, March 27, 2007.

The Gardens recognized several volunteers who had worked more than 500 hours in 2006, including Pep Ruddiman, who contributed 1,086 hours to Selby’s Research Library, and Dr. Phil Nelson, who is involved in a long-term project to photograph plants from Selby’s extensive collection of plants.

Selby Gardens currently has openings in a variety of volunteer positions, including tour guides, Welcome Center staff, Museum docents, greenhouse and grounds assistants, research and administrative volunteers and more. Those interested in helping the Gardens to achieve its mission of research, education, conservation, and horticultural display should contact Emily Chalker Lane at (941) 366-5731, ext. 231 or e-mail volunteer@selby.org.

Center for Tropical Plant Science & Conservation

The Shaving Brush Tree, Pseudobombax ellipticum is a relatively uncommon cultivated ornamental in Sarasota. This native of Mexico and Central America is usually seen as a squat spreading tree, although it can grow to 30-feet tall or more. Its green and grey bark is smooth, unlike many of its relatives in the related genera, Bombax and Ceiba (the Kapok tree).

In the spring, before the palmately compound leaves emerge, dark rose (rarely white) brush-like flowers are produced in clusters on the branch tips. Blooming actually begins around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m., with flowers lasting a day or so. The spent flowers drop, littering the ground beneath the tree. The flowers actually pop open rather quickly, usually only 10 or 15 minutes elapse between an un-opened cigar-like bud and a 5 to 8 inch pink powder puff fully open. The first flowers on our Pseudobombax ellipticum opened on March 16th. The tree will be in flower for several weeks.

H.E. Luther, Curator, Living Collections

The Garden Shop and Banyan Treasures

Shop our unique gift selections at Banyan Treasures and The Garden Shop. Lots of unique, gorgeous orchids and bromeliads will delight any plant lover. The month of April will offer many tantalizing sales in the shops.

Visit Banyan Treasures and The Garden Shop online.

Exhibits

In the Museum of Botany & the Arts

Daily through April 26

10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Rainforest Masks 2007 Exhibition

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, for the third year joined forces with Lauren Jawer and her fair trade import company, Mariposa Indigenous Art, to sponsor a return exhibition of the Rainforest Masks of the Borucan Indians of Costa Rica in our Museum of Botany and the Arts. 

This exhibit showcases some of the best work being created by a very small group of master carvers and painters in Boruca.  Soulful images of hand-carved and painted shaman faces are surrounded by colorful rainforest flora and fauna from the area that surround the remote village of Boruca.  Orchids, ferns, vines, and bromeliads, intertwined with hummingbirds, toucans, frogs, and butterflies are just a few of the images emerging from these unique masks.  All but the most delicate beaks are created from a single block of wood.

Other Exhibits

Selby Gardens Nature Printers Exhibit - Looking Ahead

April 3, 2007 from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.

April 4, and 5, 2007 from 10:00 am - 5:00 p.m.

This exhibit will be held in the Great Room by the Bay and will include botanical prints and gyotaku (fish prints) on paper, cloth, and ceramics.

For further information please call Marilyn Shipman at 941.966.6674.

 

27th Annual Juried Photography Exhibit

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is pleased to again invite photographers to submit entries for our 27th Annual Juried Photographic Exhibition to be held on May 5th through June 4. Please bring your entries to the Education Building on Tuesday, April 24 from noon through 6:00 p.m.

Entry forms including all contest rules and conditions are available on our web site at www.selby.org. - go to Events, Exhibits, then Juried Photo Exhibition.

Juried Art Show

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in cooperation with Art Center Sarasota announces a members' juried show titled, "Selby Gardens: Familiar to Fantastic through April 14 at the Art Center Sarasota at 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, Florida. The artwork from this show draws its inspiration from Selby Gardens and includes all media.

For more information contact Kenny Armstrong at the Art Center Sarasota at 941-365-2032.

 

A Taste of the Tropics

The Marie Selby Gardens Associates invite you to attend their Annual Spring Fundraiser, A Taste of the Tropics, on Monday, April 16, 2007. This event will be from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Great Room by the Bay at Selby Gardens.

This celebration of tropical fruits includes a catered lunch of tropical inspired dishes, tropical fruit nectar tasting, a silent auction of tropical centerpieces and a tropical fruit recipe contest with celebrity judges Paul Mattison, Judi Gallagher, and Jamil Pineda. Also, a mini-concert by virtuoso Claudio Baltierra playing guitar classics from tropical locations around the world, and to top the event off a fruit carving and garnishing demonstration by Executive Chef Aaron Chavarria of the Hyatt Sarasota. Learn professional secrets and observe the master at his craft in his creative displays, carvings and garnishing with fruit.

The cost of the event is $65.00. For further information, contact Martha Strickler at 941.359.2305. Advanced reservations are required by April 9, 2007.